Evil BMI Charts

I work at a company that is kind enough to spoil us with a health and fitness program. Part of those benefits, apparently, is an annual {voluntary} biometric testing -  you know, cholesterol, glucose levels, triglyceride levels.... it's pretty bad ass.

So I decided, yes, of course I wanted to do this. I should know where I stand as far as my health is concerned. In all honesty, I felt pretty confident I was going to see decent results, and I was right.... for the most part....

Turns out, according to the nurse that drew my blood and scanned it in her handy dandy little machine, All of my "numbers" are excellent. Good cholesterol, bad cholesterol levels are great, glucose levels are great, and so on.... BUT... my BMI was NOT great.

You see, because I am a short 5'5" woman.... my weight throws a wrench into my healthy system. I pack a mighty punch in this little body of mine. When most people guess my weight, they are a solid 30+ pounds off.... and I mean I am usually 30 lbs heavier than most guesses.

So, you can see where this is going. I weighed in.... after seeing the number, in my head I hear, "Awesome! I'm another pound lighter AND I have clothes on right now!"
What the nurse said after calculating my BMI, "Well, this is where you need some work. your BMI is 30, which makes you Obese. You know, you could improve that by changing your diet and doing some exercise...."

Obese.

That awful, awful word.

I laughed in her face, but in that HOW DARE YOU kind of way. I saved her the explanation because I doubt she wanted to hear about how I've lost almost 10 pounds already from DIET and EXERCISE, ahem, thank you very much mean nurse lady..... I knew she didn't care. It wasn't worth the hassle.

I left feeling a little bummed. It hurt to hear that after everything I've gone through this year so far, I'm still OBESE. It's terrible, how a simple word can make you feel so defeated. And then I went from feeling defeated to feeling angry.

How dare they categorize us all into about 5 different body types?!?!?!? We are a gigantic race with each and every one of us, a different make up. Different body types, genetics, disorders, hurdles.... this stupid piece of shit BMI chart is practically a playground bully.... rubbing your face in the metaphorical sand that is obesity.

I mean, seriously.... take a look at this.

Because of my height, I am apparently the second from the right.....

Clearly, this BMI chart business is for the birds. I am in the OVERWEIGHT section, not the OBESE section. I understand it helps some people get an idea of where they are and where they should be, but in my case, I feel like it was a complete miss... I know I have work left to do to myself, but COME ON.

Please dont focus too much on these charts. They are a vague generalization.